Is Alkaline Water a Myth?

by: Yuri Elkaim

It can be difficult figuring out what the best source of water for your family is. Few people like drinking water straight from the tap, but what’s the best alternative? Is it to use a filter jug or is to install a filter on your tap? Is it to buy bottled water, and if so, what kind of bottled water?

Making an already complicated issue even more confusing is the advent of alkaline water. Is it a farce, a hoax, or is it the real deal?

For this week’s #AskYuri, I’m answering a question from a reader named René, who asks:

“Hello, I’m into alkaline water, especially the Kangen Water System. I’ve personally seen great response in my wife, who has Lyme disease, as well as myself, being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. We both started using it about three months ago, and as we had to be on hiatus from the gym due to huge joint pain and swelling, we have both now been able to go back to the gym for the past two and a half months. We are excited, as we were both college athletes, and now we are in our 40s, looking forward to getting back in shape. Any thoughts on alkaline water?”

There’s a very simple answer here for René: You’re feeling better; that’s all that matters.

Personally, I believe that alkaline water does make a difference. As you know, I’m all about improving the alkalinity in your body. Remember: Your internal physiology is everything. When everyone else is getting sick during flu and cold season, the correct way to defend yourself is not with medication or antibiotics, but by attending to what’s going on inside of you.

Some questions to ask yourself: Are you healthy? Are you alkaline? Is your bloodstream healthy? Are your red blood cells able to deliver oxygen to your cells? Are your cells in a state of acidosis or an ideal environment of alkalinity?

When all of those good things are in place, it’s very tough to get sick, and if you’re dealing with issues, it’s a lot easier to recover from them. I talk about this extensively in my New York Times best-selling book The All-Day Energy Diet.

So, yes, I believe alkaline water is awesome. Personally, if I’m going to buy a bottle of water, I will usually gravitate toward Fiji water because it has a pH of 7.7, which is alkaline. Fourteen is the most alkaline, 0 is the most acidic, 7 is neutral. Our blood wants to be about 7.35; that’s kind of the ideal sweet spot. If we’re drinking alkaline water that’s 7.7 pH, that’s more alkaline, so that’s going to help buffer out a lot of the excess acid in our body, and it’s going to make you feel better.

When your bloodstream is alkaline, you essentially improve all aspects of your health. Your blood is your river of life; it delivers all the nutrients, all the oxygen to your cells, and if it’s acidic and not alkaline, the red blood cells start to clump together, making it very tough for the oxygen to be delivered to your cells.

If your bloodstream is thick and sluggish and tired, you’re going to feel the same way and everything from your cells to your joints will not be getting the nutrients they require because everything is ultimately coming from your blood.

The Kangen Water System you mentioned is probably the gold standard on the market as far as I understand. It’s a little bit on the pricier side—unlike a Brita filter—and is several thousand dollars. However, if you want to make the investment, it’s probably one of the best investments you can make as it pertains to water and improving the health of your body.

René, thank you so much for the question, and I hope this gives you some security in your decision.